Families and Literacy
June 2014 Volume 8, Issue 3
Wisconsin State Reading Association www.wsra.org
Family Reading Fun The goal of the Families and Literacy Committee of the WSRA is to develop and carry out plans which convey to parents the value of involvement in reading activities with children.
Members: Amy Sippert – chair Nicole Cilley
In this issue the focus is on the Reading Information standards, a part of the Common Core State Standards. Listed below you will find Reading Information Standard #1 and what it looks like at a kindergarten, fourth grade, seventh grade and high school level. The standard is as follows: Reading Information Standard #1 K - With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. 4 - Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text 7 - Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text 11-12 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. Notice that the expectation of each standard is work that students do in school every day. The skills are not isolated. Determining main ideas and citing evidence from text is something that is done across subject areas. The best thing that parents can do is to continue to read with their children and talk about the stories. For more ideas of what you can do, see the Literacy Tips below.
Teresa Prus
Literacy Tips
B Whalen
For the young reader: Reading with children is still the best way to help prepare them to
Deb Stensen Mary Pohlman Jenny Seiler Nina Ruskey
meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards. When reading with young children, be sure to choose nonfiction or informational text along with fiction text. Read the book aloud to your child. Ask “wh” questions such as who, what, where, when and why. Ask your child to pick out the very important parts of the text that should be remembered. Modeling this for your child, by telling your thoughts, is a great place to start.
For the teen reader: How can you help your teenage child meet the Common Core
State Standards? Model for your child how to make inferences from the text and support them with textual evidence. Say things such as; “When I read ______________ it made me think _______________ because ___________. Encourage your child to go back into the text and put his or her finger on the parts used to make the inference. Remember, it is not cheating to go back and reread!
Families and Literacy
June 2014 Volume 8, Issue 3
Wisconsin State Reading Association www.wsra.org
Meet the Authors David Adler The goal of the Families and Literacy Committee of the WSRA is to develop and carry out plans which convey to parents the value of involvement in reading activities with children.
Born in New York, Adler is the author of more than 200 published books. David worked as a math teacher in New York before publishing his first book in 1976. He then went on to start writing the Cam Jansen series of books. He also has a Picture Book Biography Series of well researched, nonfiction books for elementary readers that range from presidents to sports heroes in history. Adler has even written some of his books with his son. You can learn more about David Adler and his books at www.DavidAdler.com.
James L. Swanson Swanson is the best selling author of books such as Chasing Lincoln’s Killer and Bloody Times (the young adult adaptation of Bloody Crimes). Swanson holds degrees in both history and law and has worked for the United States Department of Justice. Swanson’s dramatic and thrilling retellings of events in history such as Lincoln’s assassination and the hunt for Jefferson Davis, help to bring history to life for the reader. The President Has Been Shot!:The Assassination of John F. Kennedy is the narrative nonfiction story of the JFK assassination. Swanson was born on Lincoln’s birthday. To see the Common Core State Standards go to www.corestandards.org
Website Spotlight Looking for a great resource for informational reading? Try http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ Here you will find articles, videos and even games that can be used to practice determining the main idea and making inferences. **Look for our September issue when we focus on Writing CCSS.**